A trek to Kodachadri (..the End)

Last night before going to sleep I had relispraed my leg as I had pain. In the midnight I woke up to the terrible pain I had in my right leg..i could not sleep…I pained hell..i tried to do any thing that was possible to get some relief..but my efforts went in vein..i didn’t know what to do..wanted to see the time left for morning but had no reach to mobile nor watch…could not know what time it was..i made up my mind to bunk sunrise trek next morning. I knew I could count on few fellomates who would have similar thoughts.. some how I could reach my bag and got a pill of pain killer and laid back praying to get some sleep..Thankfully I had good sleep..

I woke up to the alarm raised by Jai n Ram awakening ever one.. i was feeling better ..but myself and sudhakar tried to kid around stating we will not join and we will take the jeep along with Sampath back to Kollur we claimed we had the majority so …

After some humorous debate (sudhakar tried to delegate Jai to take care of the people who were to trek and he would take care of the rest to reach Kollur by jeep) finally we decide that barring Sampath and Jose all will join the trek..

Once every one was ready we stepped out the Base camp to start the trek..it was still dark out there and was a cool. Sudhakar and vasuki carried their torches…and the trek began..

It was the same route we went last evening for sunset trek..till the point where we had seen some trekkers who had put up the tent. From then we had to take deviation to reach the sunrise point. We cruised along cautiously as it was dark..the path was not very easy and a bit risky..we had to walk through the edge of the hill line and the road was very narrow..and slant.. it was fun to cruise along..
Finally we reached the top..and camped there..waiting for the sun to say GOOD MORNING!! It was a long wait..But was worth it.. view from there was so beautiful and pleasant..with the pleans t weather…entire hill range was in our sight..and as the darkness was fading away we could see some water bodies around some hills..more pleasant as to see clouds floating in between the hill ranges..it was simply soothing to have woken uto see the charisma of mother nature.. sky was painted with orange indicating the sunrise is minutes away..
While the wait was on Jai was setting up his tripod to click a picture perfect shot of sunrise…and JP and Nitin as usual busy getting each other clicked in their cam..few others also followed their suit…sudhakar was experimenting with Mobicam taking snaps of Anil and hilltops in the backdrop..the zoom feature of his mobile was simply superb..

Finally we could see Sunrays passing through the clouds…it was cloudy out there so we could not get a view that we were wanting….hence after some time we started to trek back…while we came down we found there were 6-7 tents were there…many people had camped last night there…we could see that they had camp fire and got food cooked (stove was lying around) there..they must have had a great time!!

As we trekked down ..enjoying the beautiful Sunday morning it reminded me of the Daniel Boone’s beautiful Sunday track..which fitted the bill..

We reached the base camp and got freshened up..but still many had not returned yet..so we waited from to come..they had stayed back for spending some more time..when they reached back…there was a long queue to get freshen up..once all were done we had a kings breakfast..Upma and tomato rice were on the menu..

As we were waiting outside while our accounts manager Mr Ram was settling the bill we found there was another team who were debating the issue which we had in the morning..To trek back or jeep ??? they even had a voting!!! Could not figure out finally what they choose..but we had chosen to trek back…after we arranged for Jeep for Sampth our return journey began!!

It was the most beautiful strip that we trekked..though the woods…there was a thick forest besides which we are climbing down…we had plans to trek though the Jubgle..but it was a protected area so had to take permission from forest dept in kollur..there was a false also there in the jublge..but coz of permission issue we trekd through the sidelines..the forest was not thick though…but was Class… we had some good time and enjoyed the nature thoroughly…the greenery around..trees touching the sky..sunrays beaming through the woods…humming birds..variety of ferns..rich flora

As we reached the base of the forest..we reached the civilization..we reached a tiffin shop which is popularly known as mallu’s dhaba….we had the National tiffin of Kerala..there…I forgot what is called..but it was very tasty.. its kind of idli..of cylindrical shape ..with coconut topping..was served with chana masala..it was tooo good..!!
We had walk for about 6 kms I guess to reach the main road, which we would lead to kollur by bus.. we had enough time..so ..Once we finished there we went a bit further…and caped under a tree’s shelter…

As we laid back there relaxing..jai and me prepared lemon juice in the water bottle..every one opened there bags to finish of the remains of eatables.. we had cakes, biscuits, fruits…ketan’s bhel…..it was very relaxing… It is at this time we all learnt the actual meaninig of word KOLAVERI!! whole world is going gaga about this song why this kolaveri di? like a viral flu it has spread..every other person is humming this song...but many really dont know the meaning..it was the case with many of us.. we had Bharani who knows Tamil so we asked him the meaning..he explaiined it with such an example that everyone of us understood it clearly!!! he was nicknamed as Kolaveri!!

We began to walk ..to reach the main road…once we were there we could get a bus without much wait…
The bus journey of abt 15 km to reach kollur was the most difficut jounrney since last day…we found it more difficult than trekking…none of had got the seats to sit..all were standing…. He was a speedy driver..it was a ghaat section…we were like pendulums hanging and swings in all directions…Finally we reached Kollur…

Sampth had taken a room and was settled there.. we joined him..all of had bath..got freshend up to visit the very famous Kollur Mookambika Temple..we took the Darshana and offered our prayers..after spending some time in the temple we came to the lodge..did the packing and were ready for final round of entertainment!!
Once done we checked out of the room to reach Hotel Adiga..we had our dinner there..and waited for our bus to take us back to Bangalore…it was long wait..we had good time pulling each others..playing pranks..Ram was the target..Binoy and me had hidden his bag only Jai knew this….it took Ram good amount time to locate his lost bag…
We just mellowed the sweet memories of the Trek…..finally the bus arrived and we were in..bidding bye to kollur and Successfully completing the trek with out any issues!!!

It was indeed a very successful trek..cudos to the organizers and all the trekkers who complimented each other every minute all through..every one jelled with one another..in any other case of a such a big group there is a tendency of smaller groups different opinions , personal differences..but Cheers to our team…which was ONE all trhough…it was great experience….

The memories will always be remaing..in our mind..we were carrying back some great moments…we thoroughly ENJOYED every bit of it…

I hope this Blog will help us relive the moments through rest of our lives…cant wait for next such treks…

Jai is already having a water trekking plans…hope to see that gets executed very soon!!!

Happy reading Happy trekking!!!

A BIG thanks to all for making this trek one of the most memorable moments of my life!!!

A trek to Kodachadri (..continued 2)

At last we are @ our base camp..the Bhattara Mane!!!

But as Jai kept saying since start, till we reach the sunset point we haven’t seen Kodachadri…so..we were still 1.5 – 2 kms away from KODACHADRI..Our DESTINATION!!!

Bhattara Mane: it’s house managed by the priest of the nearby temple was a kind of lodging..but with least amenities…yet good food !!

Once we were there, the person who was managing the affairs, seemed more like a Sales Manager than a priest.. the way he welcomed us.. listed out the facilities that are available ..etc.. We dumped our bags and laid down where ever we could some place. One small room and a common floor was our area of stay for the night.. while we were resting, Sudhakar gave me some tips on yoga to relax the body..mean while he found that there was a leech bite on his left leg.. it seemed as if it was @ the falls ..by now there was nothing…We all freshened up ..and were ready for the food!!

Luch was ready and was a buffet serving… Rice, sambar, sabji , garlic pickles and a papad was on the Menu. It was good…all of us had gooood food before we slipped back on the floor..@ abt 3/3.30 pm we continued our journey ….journey to our Destination…we could imagine what destiny has in store for us in the destination that beautiful evening!!!! It was a wonderful trek to reach the peak…

As we cruised up the hill range on the other side of the hill which lead to SUNRISE point we saw someone had put a Tent right @ the edge of the hilltop..when I saw it first thing I told Ram who was with me was Suuuuppeeer!!!! I wish we could camp there…wonderful place…you are on top..while its night you can view the whole sky with twinkling stars!!! Just imagine… you have bracing cool breeze which is refreshingly cooling your body, on a hilltop, mountain ranges around you , no one else except your companions around you, a camp fire providing some warmth and light, as you lay in the nature’s bed twinkling stars as if they are sharing/ talking to you..humming noise of wild insects around giving a musical touch to the night..Mannn..!!!tooo good!!! (bit of entertainment factor would be icing on the cake!!!) More over when you wake up in the morning it’s the SUN who will welcome you to the NEW DAY!! I missed it!! But next time around will defiantly plan for this.. for sure..i don’t wanna miss this beauty!!!

However though ..our agenda was the SUNSET and nor sunrise @ that point of time.. so ..we continued… Sudhakar used to ask in between the trek as “Guys ALL Ok ya???” which actually meant, Guys lets take a break!!!ha ha!!! We would stop at every kiosk..for either butter milk or water melon or juice..at one such kiosk we saw a cave..there was a small Ganesha temple was located in it..

As we continued…it was still sunny out there…so we camped just before the sunset point under a tree.. as we were chit chatting Sudhakar came up with an idea of Bucket ball/stone.. a small bucket was lying on a bush there.. we had a game..participants had three chances to throw a stone from where ever we were standing/sitting.. Ram, myself and some tried but could not hit the target!! But suddenly we heard a sound of a stone falling in the bucket…bingo!! It was vasuki’s left hand throw… However he was not the winner, guess why??? He threw from his left hand..rest used their right hand..oops!!! wondering ??? don’t!! As sun started his return journey for the day..we started to reach the peak to watch Sun set..

On top there was a Peetha!!! Its called the Sarvadnya Peetha!! Sarvadnya is a popular Kannada saint-poet of some 16^th odd century who’s sayings or tripadis( three liners) or vachanas as they are called..are very meaning full and till day popular!! One such vachana that trikes my mind is “ Sajjanara sasnga hejjenu Savidante, Durjanara Sanga Bachala kocche yantihudu sarvadnya!!! Which mean its like having sweet honey if you have company of Good People..but if u have company of bad/negative people its like a stinking sewage..

It is believed in Indian mythology that, guru Shankaracharya from Kerala meditated on this peetha to impress godess Mookambika and persuade her to come to Kerala with him!!!

Coming back from past to present… all of us scattered around and found suitable places for ourselves to witness the Sun to set behind the range of mountains!! Ram, Binoy and me settled at the peetha… Sudhakar and Vasuki were also sitting on the peetha but were busy over their Mobiles..it was like hitting a jack pot if your mobile catches signals there..few were try to move around in search of network..rest of the team settled on the hill top..Jai.. as usual ..with his cam capturing ..snaps ..and figuring our location to capture the sun set at best view.… Dinesh, Bharani, Nagaraju, Jose, Kevin were also busy giving poses and getting their photos in different angles different poses … JP and his partner Nitin were lost in their own world !!!

There we got to meet our Tollywood icon Rajani Sir!!! Rajnai Sir was holding the Sun in his mouth and not letting it set!! It was our own Mr B nagaraju was in a filmy/Rajany style posing for a photo shoot!!!

Also we had a Kollywood icon Mohanlal!! Mr. Sampath!! He too posed for the photo shoot.. with his cooling glasses on!! It was only on our return to Bangalore jai told me that his target in that photo was not the face but the reflection of Sun in the cooling glasses..But Sampath look good in this Pic .. kollywood hero!!!

It was a decent crowd that had gathered there to watch the sunset.. as time passed..sky turned orange, indicating we were just few seconds away for what all of had gathered there.. it was a amazing!!! Slowly and steadily the SUN had made his way back for the day..Disappearing behind the range of mountains!!! Seconds later we could hear loud noise of birds ..which propably were calling it a DAY!!!

Other public started moving down towards the base..we however decided to spend some time over there enjoying the beauty and pleasant weather… Rajesh was busy shooting the series of events in his handi cam… Anil was cool as usual..

Ketan was a surprise element.. he was the one who was apprehensive on trekking this long stretch.. he kept on saying he has never walked moe than 2 ks in his life!!! Even we thought he would find this trek difficult!! But he was always among the first to reach any point right from beginning!! It was really good to see his spirit!!! On the other hand we all thought Prashant , the Arnold Shivajinagar of the gang would find it very easy looking at this Gymmy physique. Hehad become Arnold indira nagar!!! As ram used to easingly ask him why has he become Arnold indiranagar from Arnol Shivaji ngar, he would take it sportingly and smile!!

It was really a wonderful experience.. all agreed that the hectic trek of the day paid off!! It was really worth it!!! Thnx to Jai n Ram for planning this location and Thanx to Sudhakar, Vasuki and Binoy to have supported the idea and being part of this adventure!!!! Thanks all..

As it started getting dark we started to walk back to our base!!! It already started to chill..moon was also bright ..we had couple of torches..which made our way back journey comfortable.. Once we were back…it was time for some Entertainment!! And Entertainment Manager Mr Binoy to take charge!!!!

Click to continue:   http://padmarajshahapuri.blogspot.com/2012/02/trek-to-kodachadri-end.html

A trek to Kodachadri (..continued)

We could see the peak which we had to traverse through... It was hot out there and the weather was dry, we were surrounded by the yellow grass and open land..we started our adventure by climbing up the hillock. It was pretty steep, elevated abt 80 degree angle. We kept on walking in the hot sun..the peak was never coming..but none of us lost it..by this time the group was distributed into smaller groups..few were leading ahead with Ram..few were cruising down the middle ..and rest were following with Jai at the end ensuring “AALL IZ WELL”….we took a little break on the way and had the fruits and water..to ensure we are not starving and not get dehydrated..this ensured all were in good health and high spirit..as we restarted our march..once we thought we are almost there….alas..the peak which we thought is our target..was not so..it was just a high land which actually is a base of another hill..like this we made our legs to march over 3-4 such structures..finally mine and few of our legs started agitation..shouting loaudly...”Emotional ayachaar nahi sahenge..nahi sahenge!!! All these days you kept us in AC rooms..taken good care of us..not given much work..even you made sure we don’t climb stairs and u use lift…And today you are making us to slog???” we some how managed to pacify them and we all halted under a big tree on the way..we waited for all to come…we thought of having some food/lunch before we took a start..sandwich, bread jam, oranges, apples, pears, cake, biscuits..were on the menu…it was a healthy eat out!!

Ram was eagerly waiting for this moment..not because he was hungry or tired..he was the one who was carrying the bread and other stuff..he would be relieved of this weight from his back..We had good time chatting, pulling each other’s legs. It was a good relaxation!! It was time to move on…we had to meet our target!!

The next 3- 4 kms were very hard. Its just boz our body had cooled down after the break and climbing up on the hill top was becoming very tough. ..especially for me..it was getting really tough with severe headache J in my right leg….when going gets tough, tough gets going!! (too much..aa…??) And Finally we reached the top ..heyy!!! finally!!!

When we saw from top the road that we had covered…. we felt sense of accomplishment!!! It was amazingly nice..we now landed at the jeep tack road, which would lead us to our base camp..Bhattara mane( priest’s house) @ kodachadri!!! The jeep track is the only road to reach kodchadri from Nittur/Kollur without trekking.. it was a muddy road..but not much of ups/down..when we made our way to our base camp it was abt 2.10PM…

At last we are @ our base camp..the Bhattara Mane!!!

to be continued....Click here

A trek to Kodachadri

Organizing committee: Jairaj, Ram, Binoy
Trekkers: Sudhakar, Vasuki, Anil, Rajesh, Prashanth, Jose, Sampath, Ketan, Kevin, Bharani, Dinesh, Nagaraju,Nitin, JP and me.

The route: Bangalore Bus 8.30 - KSRTC to Kundapur via shimoga / kollur__ Alight at Nittur__Trek on Road till Marakuttaka__after bridge take a deviation __walk till a stream__cross the Stream___walk till Reaching Hidlumane village___ Reach Hidlumane water falls__ climb the water falls through forest __Climb up the hill ___keep walking___ Climb up hil top to find Jeep track ___walk through___ Battra mane (Base camp)___Climb up to the sunset point and sarvagnya peeta …stay in base camp@ night__ Start trek back Battra mane (Base camp) next morning___climb down through forest___Reach kaka shop at basewalk till u reach Tar road__ Bus from Road to Kollur - 15 kms __ Return bus from Kollur to Bangalore - 9.00 pm Reach Bangalore 6.00 am

It all started few weeks back over a cuppa of coffee @ 5th floor stairs. Jai, Ram, Vasuki, Girish and myself ( I guess Suman was also there), were having coffee that evening, and were casually discussing about travelling in India. Girish said, he has travelled around many places across the globe but has not been able to see many places with in India. Jai shared his travel experiences during pre-OFSS days. During this point we all decided we needed to make a weekend trip. Ram suggested Kodachadri, as he n jai had already trekked this terrain, and that everyone would enjoy as it offers the combination of plains, high hills, waterfalls, forest and temple . So deciding on the place was instant without much effort.
It was decided that will go for trek to Kodachadri. Initially we thought of Jan 28, 29 as the dates. ( later it was rescheduled) Now it was time to put together the team. Girish opted out as he had personal commitments. Vasuki had concerns.( But eventually made it to final 18) We decided to place a formal invitation to the entire FCIS team to join us. We also coined an idea to form a trekking club..(may be with the success of this trek we hope to put it in shape soon)
For few days all were silent on this matter until on Rajkumar’s Malaysia Bon voyage lunch party. Binoy, Jai n Ram got to serious business and after series of Yes/No’s ..Sudhakar, Vasuki, Asheesh(could not make it due to his onsite travel), Anil and I were confirmed members of the team. It was decided that Ram N Jai will be responsible for arranging for travel, staying, food and above all Guiding through the trek. Binoy was vested upon by the responsibility of communication, coordination and most importantly ENTERTAINMENT.
Finally the final 18 ( including JP’ s friend Nitin) team was in place and the dates were decided as 04th and 05th of February 2012. Soon our finance manager for the trek Mr Ram collected the initial payment from every participant with the help of his collection managers Jai (D block Mgr) and Binoy (C block mgr). Tickets got booked and a formal mail to all the final 18, was sent by Communication Manger Binoy detailing about the schedule. Jai mailed about what to carry. On Thursday the 2nd Feb all of us met in the cafeteria in the evening for final briefing session. Jai told about things to carry, not to carry, tips of trek etc, Binoy briefed about the schedule for next 2 days. After a brief Q&A the meeting was over with every one anxiously expecting for the clock to turn 6PM on the following day. Was very happy to see Sudhakar and Vasuki , beating all speculations/ rumors ( especially, Prakash’s cautious advice to both) made it to the trek.
03.02.2012
5.30PM was the scheduled time of assemble @ the reception. Ram, Vasuki and Anil were to join as @ Mejestic directly. Rest of us were to start from office together. Only Jai n me were on time. Slowly and steadily every one came by 6.10pm. And the journey BEGAN…..
We caught local buses ( CVRaman Nagar – Lido – Mejestic) and reached majestic bus station at abt 7.30PM. Anil and Nitin were waiting for us. Vasuki also reached alongwith us. Later Ram joined. So all were ready to rock.
We boarded the Kundapur Bound KSRTC Rajahamsa bus @ 8pm. At about 10 pm bus stopped at a Kamat Restaurant for Dinner. We all had food there and went back to our seats. Some went to sleep few were chatting remaining were waiting to get sleep. There was an interesting discussion triggered by Binoy and Sudhakar over the full moon. Binoy’s seat was on the conductor’s side, he asked Sudhakar to see how beautiful was the Moon. Sudhakar who was sitting on the driver’s side and could not see it from his side and led to a humorous argument. ( RS/FS signoff, review comments etc..)
04.02.2012
At abt 3AM we reached Shimoga, and at 5.30am we got down at Nittur. Our starting point of the trek. We spotted Hotel Shridevi there to settledown. People who wanted to brush, get fresh and answer calls ( both nature and phone) did so(however only mobile signal available there was of BSNL which none of us had. Eventually few used mobile o the hotel owner to call their homes that they reached safely.) ...few lions ( who don’t brush/bathe) busy sipping Hot tea in the cold. Meanwhile break fast was getting ready. The hotel guy was preparing hot buns, wada and idli. Me n Jai were having dry cough so we had some Hot turmeric milk which gave us some respite.
While every one was busy in some activity, from no where an interesting question made the rounds in the air. “Who is Older??” was the question. The debate was on and the contestants were Ram, Sudhakar and Vasuki..All three were justifying that they are younger ( which they really are..at least after the trek results..)It was even agreed to have cat walk of the three and the younger lads of the team were to decide who looked old?? But interestingly while this debate was on some body from a corner pointed @ Anil that, he looked older!! And that’s it!! We had Anil’s weak point. He used to get irritated each time when ever there was any reference to age. Finally the debate was concluded stating that the fact would be known by itself @ EOD after we finish Day 1 of our ITR ( Integrated TRekking)
By the time all were ready having the breakfast clock ticked pas t 7.30AM…And everybody took their first step towards the amazing trek ahead…and the march began, on the road which leads to Kollur.
It was a pleasant morning ..cool breeze..fresh and natural air ( unlike Bangalore’s polluted air) empty road.. Greenery around..perfect for a trek start..
We had walk for about 3 Kms before we hit a diversion on the left side. There is a small bus stop on left hand side the main road. From there, there is a deviation taken by a mud road which we had to take.
Ram already had made a friend there who was accompanying him from the Shridevi Hotel. It was a four legged barking friend which denied to part away and followed us, especially Ram like a vodafone puppy.
After going some distance we halted to distribute the common luggage which ram n Jai were carrying. Fruits, cucumber, lime, sugar, salt, bread, jam..etc( they had carried enough..Which helped during the trek) was distributed among all to share the weight. People who wanted to change their dresses did so there. Caps were seen on all heads..warm jackets which helped fight last night cold were out..cameras made their presence felt..Once all was set, journey continued.. All were walking in almost same pace…mostly as one big group.. Jai was often seen absconding and we used to spot him with his best companion( or should I say second wife..?) his lovely NIKON camera. He was capturing all that he found interesting in the woods in his camera lenses. He was busy with that all through the trek.
While on the move one of the most memorable (could be other way round to Jose ) incident of the trek happened. Jai spotted a Hornbill & was taking its snap. People around were looking at the bird..when all the hell broke loose!! Ever silent Jose from Gods own country commented stating this was the “National Bird”. Somebody corrected him saying it was Peacock and not Hornbill. Immediately Jose said it was “The National Bird of KERALA” …every one broke into laughing to the max they can… “National Bird of KERALA” ..it still brings a smile on my face..from that moment on wards..there were several NATIONAL symbols of Kerala were discovered (national snack/breakfast/flag…of Kerala) . Jose would stare at any one who would refer this incident..
We passed through a small stream where Sudhakar n Vasuki took some pics out of their respective cameras..we came across a govt school on the way where children anxiously looked at our gang.. After some point we stopped at a KIOSK ( a road side shop) to get some chocolates.. while moving on.. it was Ram ‘s turn to play mischief. Most of us were trying to get rid of his Vodafone friend which was still following us.. By now it had got a companion..on the way another Dog joined..some time later couple of more dogs appeared and there was a fight between the two group of dogs..it disturbed sudhakr.he frustratingly said..if such is a case i have to go back to India..(we then learnt that for him ..any place outside B'lore is out of India...hmmm..Onsite effect!!!) While Sudhakar was walking from the front when Ram slowly got behind him and caught his leg with his fingers as if the Dog was biting him..with this unexpected event Sudhakar got baffled to see only Ram laughing all the way..
It was Fun watching the duo..even better was Sudhakar’s reaction towards the Dog. He tried hard to get rid of the dog. He even offered biscuit ( that to cream one) to it..but in vein.. ..He was a sport.. and we moved on.. we stopped at a house..it was so beautiful..it was surrounded by natural beauty.



Farms all around with forest in the sight and the mountain in the back drop..pleasure to watch!!! We got ourselves freshened up there a bit. We had buttermilk.. before we started from there.. we passed through farms..farmers were cultivating rice there. .. after passing through that stretch.. we encountered the most beautiful part of the trek..A WATER FALL.. !!
Barring few..all jumped in to water to take the natural water therapy massage.. it was refreshing!!! All of us had a great time.. after abt 30-40 mins in water we got ready to move on..some oranges had made their way into our tummies by then.. we had to trek along the falls till the top to reach the top. This was one of the most exciting stretch of the trek.. we had to climb up..no much of scope for free walk..only water marked roads…through the trees.. Amazing!!! There were couple of places in this stretch which really challenged our strength and balance.….. a slight miss could have led to slip down all the way..( though it was not risk to life scale) But every one passed it successfully…
Finally we reached the top.. it was a great feeling….but lasted shortly..when we saw the next stretch which we were supposed to trek.…we found ourselves standing @ the base of a hill.
to be continued…..http://padmarajshahapuri.blogspot.com/2012/02/trek-to-kodachadri-continued.html

Happy reading …Happy Trekking!!!!!

And I met my teacher..

Finally last saturday I met my teacher after 23 years!! thanks to FB, Sachin and BHARAT!!
It was a great feeling..and an emotional one...
Bharat thank you for the warm hospitality!!

1988- A LETTER

Friday 8, July 2011 23:00hrs

1988- A LETTER
A letter- that changed my life!

I am so thrilled to pen these lines, which dates back almost 23 years of memory lane. Am falling short of words, to express my excitement with a thought of meeting my favorite and idol teacher. A teacher, in a true sense a teacher, who changed the course of my thinking and eventually my life, when I was just 10 year old kid.

I first met this teacher when I was studying probably 4th or 5th standard. She was my class teacher then. She was our best teacher. I am sure many of my friends and her students agree with me that, she was not only just a teacher but a mentor.

Its very difficult to get such dedicated teachers these days, who think teaching is not mere a job but a service…today’s education system has become very commercial and is more of profit centers for the management, than imparting quality EDUCATION to students. Education should be a responsible service than a money making industry…it has to be a nation building model than a management’s revenue generation model. I may not be a qualified person at this juncture to comment on our system..But I feel sad to see some where some thing is wrong with it. Because as a lay man, what I fail to understand is the amount of money my father spent on my entire education, right from day one till last day of my MBA program, is less than the amount I need to pay in the form of DONATION for first day of my daughter’s formal education, for LKG.!!!

I think am going too far from what I intended to write..

It was in the year 1982 when my father got transferred from Belgaum to Bhatkal, a city which defined my primary education and introduced me to this TEACHER. I was admitted to Government Model Kannada Boys School, Bhatkal for Ist standard. I think when I was 4th std, this TEACHER became my class teacher. Am proud to say that, I was one of her favorite student, and she was most of our favorite TEACHER.

Days passed, and life was waiting to take a turn, when we were in 5th std, for three of my friends. Me, Vinayak Kamat( settled in US) and Kiran Kalgal( unfortunately we lost him when he was at a very young age of 11/12 yrs. May god bless his soul!!) We three, Umesh Bhat and SACHIN SINGH BANGALOREKAR ( have a reason to boldly write this name) were good pals and sportively competing for First rank in the class..

One day Our TEACHER came to class and announced that, there was an entrance examination scheduled for Navodaya Vidyalaya, Now it’s Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya-JNV ( a dream project of Late shri. Rajiv Gandhi, the then PM) one of the then elite schools, managed by central govt. 3 of our seniors ( Raghavendra nayak, Srinivas nayak and Nagaraj Bhat) from our school were selected previous year and were studying there. They were among the First batch of Navodaya Vidyalaya.

Our teacher came to us and shared with us how important it was for any student to get admitted to JNV and study there. She motivated all the students to write the exam. It was only because of her words, most of us wrote the exam. And only we three qualified.

And we left Bhatkal, and joined JNV, located in Ankola. then. It’s a residential school, one for each district. Initially it was difficult for us to stay there and get adjusted to life there.. we called it CENTRAL JAIL in lighter mood..
But it was very difficult for me to adjust there. Staying away from parents, amongst people I never knew, emotions, sentiments, tough situations there,…and so on…I had made up mind to QUIT..leave it all there and come back home. I was desperate… my parents used to come there to meet us every weekend. Every time they come I used to cry..and plead them to take me out from there..

It was then, when my father met my TEACHER back home, and told her about my intent..

One fine day in the month of OCTOBER 1988, I received an unexpected Letter dated 10-10-1988. This inland letter card which costed 50 paisa then, is my PRICELESS possession. Even my teacher may not have thought that, this letter of her’s, would be so influential and that I would still preserved it…Yes I still have this letter..and am eager to see her reaction when I meet her and show this…

I blame myself for not going back to this letter when I was down and was running through rough patch of my early career!!! May be I might have overcome those situations, in a much better ways that I actually did. Now that I have realized it I will always refer to this letter, when ever I need motivation in future.

This letter is a precious piece of Motivation and influenced my decision then, to NOT to QUIT my school and stay there, FIGHT and WIN !! I was highly motivated by reading that letter…and listened to her words.. I was so stubborn and rigid on leaving Ankola, that I never listened to my parents, neither friends nor the principal at JNV until this LETTER came..
I felt, I was wondering in the darkness and this letter came to me like a guiding lamp and I changed my decision. I stayed back. Continued my studies there. Even went to Madhya Pradesh ( under migration program of JNVs) for 2 years.

Life @ JNV has a great influence on what we are today. I am happy to catch up with good old friends on Face book, who are spread across the globe and see that everyone of us are scaling new highs in personal and professional Lives.

Thanks to all those who made our life @ JNV.

And most of all to me It’s my TEACHER whom I thank, for making me stay there.

She is Mrs. NAGAVENI SHETTY Teacher.
It was Sachin Singh whom I met after 23 long years…(it’s again an interesting chapter!!) that we discussed about School days and about this TEACHER, who has influenced his life Also. No wonder she has influenced many such lives like me. It was then when we both decided to FIND her and Meet her after such LOOONG years. All thanks to him for he being successful to trace her and get her contact details..Thanks MAN!!! that I am meeting her… we planned to meet her in a group. We thought of going back to Bhatkal, catch up with an body who’s still there, like madhav, Ganapati, Chandralkant..( I still remember many others) and check when Umesh is back from Dubai, Vinayak is coming to India from US and meet her..
But I know it will take time to plan (due to geographical limitations..but would defiantly like to materialize it whenever opportunity comes..)..and I have relocated to the same city where she is residing now, can’t wait long to see her…

I am going there tommarrow..to Thank her.. Thank her for being my Teacher. And for she choosing to be a Teacher in her life!!!

THANK YOU, NAGAVENI TEACHER….whom we call with love NAGAVENI BAAI !!!!

Yercaud: A Suhana Safar – An excursion….

Yercaud: A Suhana Safar – An excursion….

Crew- Padmaraj, Nikhil, Chandra, Mrityunjay and Santosh

It reminds me of an old classic Hindi ong from film Madhumati, “Suhana Safar aur ye mausam hasi, hame darr hain ham kho na jaye kahin” And one surely gets lost in the beauty of Yercaud as we lost to its cool exotic weather, hot tea, the lush green plantations and mind blowing views of the shevaroy hills.

It was 15th August 2004. As planned me n Santosh got up early and were ready by 7am as per schedule. Nikki was to come to our room to pick us in his new found craze “ZEN”. He came late by 30 min. We loaded our bags, went to the Anjaneya temple besides our my room to get the blessings of lord Hanuman. And we were off towards Chandra’s house to pick him. He was waiting for us as his pandurang ashram apartments, malleshwaram gate. Once he was in journey began.

We planned to go to via KGF picking Muttu on our way. Though it would have extended the distance by 50 kms, we thought it was good idea to go this way covering couple of spots (krishnagiri dam n water falls) on our way. However we couldn’t go to these places for some reasons…

Clock ticked 10.30 am and we were in Muttu’s house in KGF. There we happened to meet Shivling, one of our IMER college friend. He was working with “Tatra BEML” in KGF. It took us while to recognize this fellow since we met him after a long time. He had put on loads of weight and had a matured look a typical uncle kind off. It was good to see him.

The fun kicked off from here, with a nasty comment from Shivling. He instinctively commented on Santosh’s get up, as he looked like a “Cowboy and he has done it all. This was enough for all of us to break into a long laughing session and start pulling Santosh. Till now he was better known as Fixer for his remarkable fixing techniques. But now he is a cow boy too. This made santosh very annoyed. But he could not help it except curse shivling for his comment. Nevertheless, the journey continued.

In the car, nikki was the experienced driver, muttu was guiding him the way from front with his fluency in Tamil. Me, Chandra n santosh were comfortable in the rear seat. Music, masti, jokes, pulling each others legs( reminds of Dil chahata hai ..title track) marked our way.. till we found a road side tea stall. We sipped hot tea with pakods just out of the kadai. It was Sankashti that day, so muttu was munching his trademark Bun with tea, while for santosh every thing was fair on the fasting day. And for rest of us it wasn’t an issue.

After the refreshing break, we started off. When we reached Dharmapuri it was about 2.30 pm. We had typical tamilian luch at a good restaurant. After the heavy lunch with piles of rice and loads of sambar we sgarted again.

As we were nearing Yercaud, the shevaroy hills of the eastern ghats welcomed us with its beautiful peaks n deadly curves.

We finally reached Yercaud about 4.30 pm or so. It was a pleasant evening, however was not pleasant enough finding a roof for stay. All hotels were booked till 17th. Somehow we came across an Auto driver Mustafa. He helped us finding a room. He delighted to to get Rs 25/- from us as his service charges without a bargain. That time I only wished we could have such sincere auto drivers in our garden city also.
Our room was in a central place. All the spots around us were in a circumference of 4-6 kms. Our driver was exhausted and wanted to rest, so we left nikki at the room and pushed off for a cup of tea. While sipping hot tea, and me with my coffee had good look at the lake where we planned to enjoy next day.

We went near the lake and sat there for a while chatting around till we saw a mind blowing scenery for the first time in our lives. We were sitting on the wall surrounding the lake facing towards it. What we saw was a dense fog rushing towards us…it almost covered everything. It looked as if its going to swallow all of us and appeared like a twister without twists. For a moment we were still. I closed my eyes and after a moment when I opened my eyes the lake disappeared amidst the fog. A sudden blackout kind of atmosphere. And suddenly everything got cleared in seconds. Fog got and it started drizzling. It was a BEAUTY!!!
By the time we went back to our room, our driver was freshened up and getting his brand new 25K Nikon camera ready to wear his photographer avatar. Photography is Nikki’s hobby and is best at it.. However he wanted the fuel to recharge. We call him tanker. A tea- tanker. We went back to the tea stall for a second round. It was raining and the tea was soothing. Then we drove towards Lady’s seat- A view point.

Lady’s seat is one of the best view points that Yercaud promises. We got a panoramic view of the ghats and all the distant vehicled dwindling their way in and out of the trees along the winding ghat road. It surely was a breath taking view.

The view was spectacular particularly in the night with the twinkling lights of Salem town in sight. There was telescope mounted at the lady’s seat for better view of distant ghats. However we could not do much at was pretty late. By that time it was stomach- calling time. All the rice and sambar we had in the noon was digested and we were looking forward for a north Indian food. We straight away went to Shevroys hotel and had very good food. When we came to room we thought of doing a campfire and dance around playing some good music. But could not do it due to rain. The place was pretty wet and could not find dry woods. However we had to go to bed with Nikki’s 2 in 1 player was trying hard to play Kishore kumar’s songs.

Day2: Every one was fast asleepwhen I got up at 6.30am. went out in the terrace to see the sun rise. But it was already a day. And the climate was so beautiful that I thought of taking a long walk in the woods. I checked with nikki if he would join me and the answer was a big NO. However I wanted to go and got ready. The was to step out of the room Nikki got up and changed his mind to join me. Muttu got up and joined us. We three were going out and Chandra n cowboy got up and joined us. It was a full house. We started walking towards Shevroy temple. On the way there were lush green coffee estates.



On our way there was a RajaRajeshwari temple and a church. Further we came across a Botanical garden that we wished to visit. Alas ! it was closed. However we continued cherishing the beuty of nature. Nikki was busy with his most loved camera experimenting on small flowers, bees n some times we jokers… we stopped at a tea joint. All of us had a good sip of special hot ginger TEA.

We got to know that from there the temple was about 3.5 Km and there was a straight plain road leading towards the temple. We could see buses, private vehicles driving towards the temple. However we took exception to this route and started to trk off the road into the thick woods. We were climbing up the hill without any clue. We never new where we would ultimately landup. Further we could see a rough path created by water flow which we started following. We had hardly covered any distance climbing, Nikki was exhausted. I cant remember when Nikki had walked last time. We keep telling him to exercise … but he gives N number of reasons from abstaining from morning walk. We took a lil break n started again. Nikk was all fine by then and was capturing every scenic beauty into his camera. We only hoped all these pics come good!! And they did at last.
It was a wonderful experience climbing towards the top finding our GOAL.

We had almost reached on top of the hill, where we thought of taking a break for a while. And what a beauty it was to view from top of the hill. We saw greenery every where. The town of salem looked so tiny from up there. And towards our left there was a mind blowing scenic beauty. Series of hill tops..and thick white clouds floating between them. As if in TV serials or cinemas we see the picturisation of Kailash parwatas…it was too Good and needless to mention that Nikki had it all in his camera.
After a bit of climbing we finally reached the top of the hill and there we could see the temple…it was an experience similar to what Archimidis would have felt when he shouted Eureka! Eureka!! However we all of us had cloths on our body.
We never thought we would directly reach the temple.. Idol of God Shevroys was located in a small cave and was very beautiful. We had to bend n walk thru to have a glimpse of the idol.
Out side there was a tea stall. Every one was hungry after the exhaustive trekking. We had tea with Parle G biscuits..it reminded me of my childhood where tea in combination of parle biscuit was my favorite snack.

On our way back..muttu was a gone case…and insisted on no more walking…so while we were waiting for a bus..we found a tipper… driver was a humble man and allowed us to get in…but we chose to get on instead of getting in..we all stood on top of the tipper and doing hungama..everyone on the roadside couldn’t stop seeing us on the tipper….this experience is one which we will never forget.
We just missed to take a pic of this.

We came back to room. After freshening up our next target was the Water falls…before that we had one very important thing to do…Having a good heavy breakfast!! We stopped a typical roadside restaurant besides the lake and jumped over the food. We had Idlis, dosas N vadas…all…chatni n sambaar were too good. Howmuch did we eat don’t ask…owner of the hotel was more than happy to serve us hot dosas off the pan.. Muttu had a bit of chicken gravy over it. “Mouth watering”..yumm..i must say it was more like a lunch rather than a break fast… once our tummy was full, we were charged to go to the falls. It was about 3 km from there. “killiyur falls, it is called and this 300 ft high water falls is situated amidst picturesque surrounding. The water comes via a stream all the way from the big lake.

The road that leads to the falls is so narrow that it was very difficult to drive. If a 4 wheeler comes from opposite direction, we had to try max to get to the side of the road so that the other vandy can pass through. As we were driving ahead we saw people sitting in a Santro have halted there and told us we cant drive further as the road was blocked.. we thought of parking the vehicle there and walk. But nikki was told by his friends a bitter experience of parking the vehicle in that area. Some miscreants had broke open the window glass looking to steal the stereo system. So me and Chandra walked through to check what the problem was. We walked a bit further and saw no obstacle. Hence we came back and drove he vehicle…on our way while trying to get to road side we had hit a big stone..a big sound..and was a big dent…we could see how bad nikk was feeling..Except for this incident there was not a single scratch on the car. We moved on.. we reached a parking place. Fees was Rs.10/-

From parking place we had to walk through the muddy steep road which lead us to the falls. Oh heavens..what a beauty it was…it was so natural and best part of it is its not commercialized.. so you enjoy it the way it is..we all jumped in to the water and enjoyed thoroughly. We were in no mood to come out of th water. It was all fun. Happened to meet an Italian tourist who was on a holiday in India..
We came back room and freshened a bit before leaving to The Shevroys Hotel for lunch. We all were dying to attack the food. But I guess the waiter there had swore that he will keep us waiting. After a long wait and repeated call to waiter finally he arrived at our table. He was looking like a confused man..while we were placing the order this guy vanished and went to another table whom he had left halfway through…like he has done to us…however after lot of patience we successfully placed the order..till then we had drunk plenty of water, so we asked Mr. confused waiter to get us some water. Guess what?? Instead of water he gets us the bill…we were surprised …bill?? Bill was actually of the next table which this gentlemen mistakenly gave us..he was Horrible!! After a while food was served and thankfully..it was GOOD. Nikki decided not to pay any tips..when the bill came he said to a waitress who brought the bill that we will not give any tips and “your service is not good” As she was leaving the table…suddenly the “ever silent” Chandra bent towards her and said “something”…”that something” is still a mystery… it sounded like “sorry” to muttu, nikki n santosh. Nikki was surprised and asked Chandra why was he sorry..i thought as we didn’t give any tips, the sentimental Chandra must have tried to sympathize the waitress. But Chandra clarified that he didn’t tell sorry instead he had said the service was HORRIBLE. And that’s it! For muttu n Santosh it heard like Horribly sorry!! And a new jargon to laugh at, rest of our lives was derived…HORRIBLY SORRY..even today we don’t stop pulling Chandra for this word.

After the food it was Pagoda Point’s turn to welcome us. PAGODA POINT is another view point worth a visit. Nothing much happens at this place but from here one can view beautiful hill ranges. After a shortwhile we left pagoda point and came back at the lake. Initially we thought of boating as the weather was cool and we could enjoy this in the midst of the lake. But we thought watching sunset is a better idea. To on top of a view point and relish the beauty of sunset. It was 5.30pm and we rushed to a view point called Gents seat. Besides this there was a view point called Child seat. These 2 are located near the lady’s seat that we saw last evening.

First we went to child seat..not that good…so we went to gents seat. It was superb. One gets to view the range of thick woods, series of lush green hill..we were waiting for the sunset..Alas!! sun got completely covered under dark clouds and it became cloudy weather. We waited for the clouds to clear and get a glimpse of the sunset..after a long wait we could view the “Diamond ring” kind of a scene when a cloud slightly dispersed allowing a view of bright ring made by dispersed sunrays. It was a bit disappointing that we could not enjoy sunset. Nevertheless our cowboy Santosh had a lot of fun in his basket to offer that evening..
He was the man in focus..was hilarious at his best..and his target was gidd muttu and horrible Chandra. Both were taken for a long ride..we had such a fun…we just couldn’t handle the comedy by Santosh..I guess many of us laughted their heart out after a long time.. tahnks to the cowboy n Gidda..As were having fun, what we saw was just amazing…we saw the dense fog rushing from the opposite hillrange towards us..as if its gonna swallow everything..even us.. Oh!! Was magical..First of its kind for all of us..

We came back to the lake and rested for a while watching the beautiful water fountain dancing in the middle of the lake.. It was time for Dinner. After the “horrible” lunch in the noon we thought of tryingout Hotel Tamilnadu..It was good.
As we came back to room straight away we went to bed..After a tired day we fell asleep in no time..But for poor Chandra…one should blame Muttu for his jhankaar beats which he plays when asleep.. we had faced his music many times in our room, when ever he comes to Bangalore.

Day 3: The final day—it was drizzling out when we got up. Ordered for some hot bed tea..it was refreshing in the cool weather..no morning walk they said..for me it was quite some time that I had enjoyed the rains! That too in such a cool place I wanted to drench in rains..so went out alone n after a quick walk returned to see everyone was getting ready for breakfast. After a good breakfast we went for boating in the lake, the plan we postphoned last evening. We hired 2 boats and enjoyed the boating..

After that we just walked through a park adjoining the lake on our way back to room. In the park, we went back to our childhood days..to play those lil things there. There were rabbits, peacock etc were in the park.
Came back to room, packed our luggage and were on our way back to Namma Bangaluru. As we were passing down the ghats, we stoped at couple of curves to have some last glimpses of this beautiful place. Trust me none of us were in a mood to return..but we had our own world back here.
The return journey was marked with a bit of silence..every one was cherishing the moments of past 2 days in their own way.. We stopped at a Dhaba midway to have lunch..that was a typical Dhaba experience. Luch was served on khatiyas..
When we reached home it was about 8.30pm. And a great journey had come to an end…but will remain in our memory for ever…
To sum it up all it was truly an AIRTEL experience..”Living every moment”…

I thank you guys for having gone through these pages of our journey..hope you enjoyed reading this and could visualize what we felt, what we experienced..Hope you also had a Suhana safar reading this…If otherwise…I am Horribly sorry!!!!